Month: September 2016

Four overland adventures across the USA, Russia, Black Sea & South America

Driving the Trans-Siberian

by Chris Raven & Simon Raven

Ever had the desire to jump in your car and keep driving; to wave goodbye to routine and commitment, to drive into the unknown hungry for adventure? Well, that is precisely what overland travel writers, Chris Raven and Simon Raven, decided to do whilst stacking boxes of frozen oven chips in a -30 degrees freezer. Not being petrol heads and having zero knowledge of the internal combustion engine, the brothers fired up their rusty Ford Sierra Sapphire and headed east.

After clocking up over 11,000 miles, quite literally living in the car, they miraculously arrived in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok in Siberia on the Sea of Japan. What they had in fact done was to drive the entire length of the new Amur Highway before it was finished, which crosses Russia and the notorious Zilov Gap in a 6,200 mile swath of cracked tarmac and potholes. Along the way our trusty heroes drink vodka with Chechen criminals, escape highway robbery, trade banana flavoured condoms with Russian cops, meet the eccentric and plain weird at truck stops in darkest Siberia, endure torturous road conditions and have a race to the finish with the Germans. Surviving this insane journey by the skin of their teeth the brothers are forced to confront their worst fears in this toe-curling comedy of extreme road trip adventure.

Priding themselves in going it alone, Simon and Chris have been noted by Lonely Planet for their talent to portray an “accurate view of what to expect”.

Chris Raven travels to India in his search for the Greater one-horned Rhino

By Chris Raven

After a long and bumpy bus journey from Guwhati, the capital of Assam, we arrive at the Kaziranga National Park. Our mission is to ride on top of an elephant and catch a glimpse of the greater one-horned rhino. Located on the banks of the River Brahmaputra, in the far north east corner of India, the Kaziranga National Park was first established in 1908 and is listed as a World Heritage Site. There are over two-thirds of the world’s one-horned Indian rhinos living here, and the park also has the highest density of tigers and large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo, swamp deer and over 200 species of birds.

A collection of black & white and colour photographs of the celebrity TV presenter Cat Deeley. The photo shoots were taken in 1998 in London when Cat was a model at Storm and before she presented SMTV.

Photo Shoot at London Docklands, 1998.

Photo by Chris RavenPhoto by Chris RavenPhoto by Chris RavenPhoto by Chris RavenPhoto by Chris RavenPhoto by Chris RavenPhoto by Chris RavenPhoto by Chris RavenPhoto by Chris Raven

Driving the Trans-Siberian

The Ultimate Road Trip Across Russia

CHRIS RAVEN

A career in overland adventure travel writing was launched when Chris drove across Siberia from the UK to Vladivostok at the dawn of a new millennium. He has also driven to Damascus and recently to the Arctic Circle. Becoming established as a travel writer with the publication of ‘Living the Linger’ (2005), ‘Driving the Trans-Siberian’ (2006) and Carnival Express (2008), Chris has since co-written his fourth book ‘Black Sea Circuit’ (2015). In addition to his work as a published author, Chris is known for his colorful travel photography and he has also documented off the beaten track destinations including China’s deep south and tribal India. Chris is currently co-writing his next book ‘Ravens on the Road’ (published May 2019). He has been noted by Lonely Planet for his talent to portray an “accurate view of what to expect”.

Next adventure for Chris Raven will be an epic journey through South/Central America to the USA and Scotland – from Rio de Janeiro to Edinburgh via New York City.

Living the Linger

Freedom on the American Highway

Carnival Express

A South America Adventure

Black Sea Circuit

An Adventure Through The Caucasus

Photo Gallery

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New Book in the Pipeline

Celebrating sixteen years of travel and adventure Ravens on the Road brings you a collection of the Raven brothers’ most epic, shocking and inspirational journeys from around the world; jam packed with their unique brand of humour and hilariously truthful observations.

The adventures by the Raven Brothers include:

– driving a $500 Vauxuall Corsa to the Arctic Circle

– travels along Colombia’s Caribbean Coast from Cabo de la Vela to the Darién Gap

– walking through the heat of the Extremadura between Cáceres to Mérida

– A fascinating journey through China from Harbin to the Menghan Market in the tribal deep south

– a colorful 4km stroll along the entire length of Rio’s Copacabana Beach from one fort to the other

– Ghost Villages of Mariovo in Macedonia: The brothers drive to the Mariovo wilderness in search of ghost villages, gold mines, buried treasure and century old French cognac

– Varanasi to Kathmandu during a Maoist rebel road block shortly before the abolition of Nepal’s monarchy

– a little walk along Hamburg’s River Elbe from the Speicherstadt to the mighty Airbus factory

– The Frida Kahlo Experience

– Opium with the Konyak King in Nagaland

– Africa in Gujarat: In search of the lions of India

– Road trip from Turkey’s Black Sea Mountains to Istanbul

– A journey overland from Crimea to Tbilisi

– Mountain of the Gods: Climbing Mt Olympus.

– Face-to face with a Great white shark in South Africa: A trip from Cape town to Mossel Bay

– A journey from La Paz to Lima in time for the start of the famous Dakar Rally

– a road trip up Mt Etna and a daring drive to Damascus

– an epic 36-hour death ride through the Amazon from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado